NAEA - National Abstinence Education Association

Virginity Pledges Among the Willing:
Delays in First Intercourse and Consistency of Condom Use

Journal of Adolescent Health Vol. 43; No. 4 P. 341-348 (09..08):: Steven C. Martino, PhD; Marc N. Elliott, PhD; Rebecca L. Collins, PhD; David E. Kanouse, PhD; Sandra H. Berry, MA The researchers discovered that even among those students who had personal assets that would discourage sexual experimentation, those who pledged to abstain from sex were much more likely to do so than their peers. “In the absence of pledging, an estimated 42.4 percent of virgins with characteristics indicating an inclination to pledge initiate intercourse within three years. In the presence of the pledge, 33.6 percent of such youth initiate intercourse.” Pledgers were also no less likely to use a condom than their peers.